I decided to tile this review as Complete Fail due to my initial experience with the Ultracool system.
First and foremost I do not profess to be an engineer. But i do turn a wrench on my bikes. Speaking of which I own a 1967 flh Shovelhead and a 2005 CVO Flh 103 engine. I was looking for a solution for my CVO. I live in the Caribbean where temps are 80s to high 90s most of the time. Riding my bike would be like having a skillet 6 inches from your leg. The bike has a ECU fail safe that would lower the RPM to 850 as an initial step then, modify timing and mixture to control heat. At times riding in the mountains with the elevation changes and lower speeds on the curves; as well as stop and go traffic on my commutes to work; the infamous ping and valve noise would be present.
My bike is equip with a OEM cooler from Harley Davidson which works well at highway speed but leaves to be desired in traffic.
Not wanting to detract from the look of the bike I ordered the Reefer. Shipping was prompt and to be honest I was shocked cause mail around here is like waiting to fill a bucket of molasses. +1 to Ulracool.
The detailed way it was packed was spot on and tells me that these folks take pride in what they do. +2 Ultracool.
During the installation I had to move the front header sensor bung because it was in the way of the oil adapter. I run a ThunderMax autotune with DD fat Cats on my ride. The design of this product is for FL models and is a general fit. Be prepared to make adjustments for aftermarket mods. If you have a stock bike; I dont see how you can run into any issues. Ultracool makes this kit to accommodate the widest range of bikes in the line up possible. It is a high quality kit and the instructions are stupid proof. +3 Ultracool.
Went out for a ride after the install and I can honestly tell you that the bike feels better. Top gear roll on valve train noise that I would have on a 90 degree day was gone. The idle sound even changed to a more thumpier note. Even the skillet was turned down. The fans would kick in as designed only when in city traffic and when i parked the bike and shut the engine off the poping and crackling sounds the bike would make due to engine heat are gone. +4 Ultracool.
Now for the Dirty.
Went out for a ride yesterday and the bike was running awesome with out a hitch. Cruising the coast 30 to 40 mile sweepers some stop and go,(for a cold one)outside temp was @84 degrees and climbing, shes running strong. The fan indicator light (which I mounted according to the recommended instructions); would cycle on and then off.
At one of my stops when I shut the engine off but there was still power to the fans; I noticed dead silence. Put a dollar bill in front of the intake and fans weren’t working. Checked indicator lamp and it was on. Rode 30 miles to a friends shop to diagnose what happened. Indicator lamp would cycle on and off during the ride, so thermoswitch seemed to be working as well as the cooler itself in bringing the temps down below 190 which is where it cuts off.
After checking ground connections;fuse; or shorted wiring. The fan armatures were bad. Called Ultracool and spoke to Earl. He immediately arranged to ship the new fan modules free of charge. He even registered the warranty for me which I hadn’t gotten around to doing. +5 Ultracool
Rode back home @75 miles with the bike in this condition and she was a champ. At highway speed the indicator didn’t turn on once,letting me know she was under 220. Did some coast back for about 25 mile and the indicator lamp was on most of the time. The temp of the bike was unknown to me a this point because i was unaware of how much over 220 she was running. But I can tell you that not once did the bike Idle down to 850 and my legs didn’t feel scorched.
Comparing the Ultracool heat exchanger to the OEM one at the time of the install, I noticed that the ultracool had a bigger surface area and looked like a better flow design than the OEM. It seems they designed it as a stand alone unit and then added the fans to kick in at 220 as a preventive measure to keep the engine temp within tolerance.
Once I install the new fans, Ill have a better picture of the longevity of this product. But for now, under complete failure of the fans, really highlighted the exchangers capacity to outperform the OEM.
Made in the USA by Bikers!!!
Oustanding.